Being Human

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The age old question of what it means to be human can be answered through many viewpoints. There are several specie specific qualities that differentiate humans from any other creature, but with that being said, humans are often compared and contrasted with animals and machines. Some of these specific qualities are the ability to interpret, free will, and the use of language, but what does it really mean to be human?

Everything created has specie specific qualities. Human beings are closely linked to animals because of the similarities of these specie specific qualities, but these alone do not make humans animals or animals humans. While there are quite a few characteristics that are similar there are enormous differences. One is language. Experiments have been done to prove that animals have a way to communicate with each other. All language is communication, but all communication is not language. Human babies can communicate through sounds, their wants and needs to their parents. With time that child will develop more sounds used as building blocks that will form into language. The alphabet is 26 different sounds that give rise to the formation of language. These letters are then put together as syllables which then can pronounce words which ultimately lead to sentences. While the child may be able to communicate, language isn't mastered until adulthood.

Language is defined as the transmission of emotions or idea between any living creature by any means. If animals could speak then they would be wearing business suits running for office. Through speech humans can relay messages and ideas that can aid in the progression of mankind and a whole. They may be very intelligent, but animals don't have the ability to do that. Fo...

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...ew nephesh. God breathed life into everything He created, but He gave humans a spirit/self-consciousness or ruah in Hebrew. Because of this self-consciousness, when a machine breaks down, you can replace it with a new part, but it's not that simple to replace the heart in the human body.

There have been many correlations with humans over time. There are many specie specific qualities such as the difficult task of interpreting, language, and free will, being able to break the rules and regulations of language at anytime or any other cycle that animals are compelled to because of instinct. Humans are the only creatures that know who they are, who they aren't and who they will be. Unlike animals we understand death, and can take our own or anyone else's. We are also able to forgive. So as you can see there are many answers to the question of what it means to be human.

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